Topic: what physical feelings of anxiety do you get?

Hi Everyone :-)

Welcome Larks98....You are very proactive with your health..You are not alone with these horrible anxiety feelings. Your symptoms are exactly the same as mine used to be. Good on you for making an appointment with a psychologist!

Just per my own experience with anxiety...The more frequently we see a health professional the better our recovery will be. I wasted 13 years thinking I could self heal....I was so wrong...My anxiety only increased...whoops

Hi Yara and Welcome too!....Can I ask if you have had a lot on your mind that may have brought on the headaches? Having difficultly getting to sleep is common when we have a lot on our mind Yara..If you wish to provide any additional info we can provide more effective support

The forums are a rock solid safe and non judgmental place to us to post

my kind thoughts

Paul

Heat ponding, and waves of heat like hot flushes, but the worst is the muscle soreness and tightness , and cramping in my chest and arms and neck and shoulders. the muscle soreness last for days and days after.

Muscle aches and pains, racing heart, breathless, face flushed, and for the last probably 2 years I can't hold back the tears either. And can't think straight, or at all. It's definitely getting worse, not better, despite trying all sorts. Today I even got pins and needles in my nose during a stressful meeting.

The last really bad episode resulted in a 3 day migraine. Also - it makes my tinnitus worse. Anyone else get that?

hi Katy, I've heard a few people write about tinnitus here, altough I haven't experieneced that.
I get the headaches, sort of like my mind feels like a heavy block is on top of it, weighing down my thoughts.
I also can feel exhausted and wide awake at the same moment.

Hello Everyone and thankyou for helping others by posting (so they are not alone)

Hey Katy....ditto here with tinnitus.....Ive been so occupied with anxiety and depression I have never mentioned how awful tinnitus can be..ugh! I am lucky that I never get headaches though

Hey Sleepy21....Feeling exhausted and wide awake is a pain....same here...except I dont remember what decade I had a headache...I do get frequent 'brain fog' though....

I hope everyone has a good weekend

my kind thoughts

Paul

Hi Paul and the gang lol

Like you Sleepy21, I also can be totally exhausted yet be unable to get to sleep. If I don't have to wake up super early, I just keep doing housework lol. If I HAVE to get up early then I do the whole shebang.. warm bath, low lighting, Dr Joe's sleep meditations and I'm out.

Tinnitis? My brother had that and it was fixed when he had an operation to restore his hearing.
It went. He was very ill from it before the op. Hugs Katy.

I can get a swollen tongue when I'm feeling super anxious.
A friend's mouth begins to bleed when she has high anxiety. Finally she's seeing a psych for depression and anxiety. I hope it's helping her - I must check in and ask.

I can also break out in a sweat. I did that the other day when our boss announced some shocking news. Like a mini panic attack. It was shocking news though. Most of us had looks of shock with her news.

I also hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Love EM

Hey EM

what an excellent post! I thought I was the only person on the planet that has those vile cold shivery sweats when I am in a difficult situation!...Mini Panic attack!....thats spot on...ugh!

you are a breath of fresh air on the forums EM

Paul

Hi Isabelle21

I know it's been a minute since your post but your words jumped out at me and i thought I'd reply.

I've been feeling the jelly-leg thing over the past few days as I've been having myself sit down at the computer and apply for jobs. This triggers my anxiety in and of itself (hellooooo don't you know you aren't good enough) but I think the actual act of sitting and not wanting to makes me feel anxious. It feels like I'm about to give a big presentation or something. And it's a similar band-type feeling around my legs.

I do think its a physical manifestation of my anxiety, and I need to shake it off my going for a quick walk, deep breaths, change the song I'm listening to. Basically I need to distact myself from my own distraction. If I ever feel weak out in public or that suddenly an activity feels really hard, its often from emotional pain for me im not addressing. But I'm not an expert and it doesn't work all the time

How have you been doing? I'm interested to hear an update from you.

Hi there,

I was getting worried that no one had really replied and thought... oh dear, maybe it's just me!
It's really strange... I don't know it it's due to COVID and being at home more/doing less.... that I am hyperventilate and more sensitive towards certain feelings that come up in my body. It happened today again... just really jelly legs like any moment they could kind of collapse on me... I am scared to get checked up about it because I fear the worst (didn't help that I used google)... I don't know if it could be just less activity/fatigue or as simple as a symptom of anxiety...! I am a bit stuck... and it's putting me off just going for a walk around the block... I really dislike the feeling! :(

It's so terrible isn't it? I think a lot of people who don't experience it badly underestimate how 'physical' anxiety can be.

For me, when I'm at my worst (like now - yay!) I get numbness, tingling and cramps in my left hand/arm and left foot/leg. I also feel like I can't take a proper breath, sighing a lot, I feel like I'm on the verge of tears constantly and I vacillate between feeling hyper aware of things to exhausted/broken down/zoned out. It requires so much effort to appear 'normal' in front of others and to tune out the internal monologue of fear about my physical symptoms I find it takes all my efforts (hence the exhaustion.

Hi kpxl....isabelle21..Dwarfstar and everyone !

Welcome to the forums and thankyou for being a part of the discussion too! I used to have exactly the same symptoms as you do when I was in my 20's and they are awful to have...ugh

Just a tip.....If our anxiety starts to have a detrimental effect on our ability to function on a daily basis the best help is from our GP. The earlier we seek some basic assistance the less severe our symptoms will be :-)

Anyone can always start their own thread topic if they wish to

my kind thoughts and appreciation for being a part of Beyond Blue

Paul

l'm in the middle of trying to decide if l should explain to some of my family that l get anxiety. My family is huge and scattered so l don't see most of them very often and so when l do it's all so weird for me that l don't function as myself at all. l know all of those parts of family scratch their head and have zero idea about who l really am especially these days. The person they see isn't me and l leave later feeling that messed up and it stays with me for the year or 2 or 3 , until l see them again.

They have no clue , pretty sure they just think l'm one very weird slightly strange brother these days.

rx

Hey RX

Im going to find my ancient 'Do You Like Yourself' thread on this so we can leave room for new posters here.You have mentioned an excellent point. How do you know that any of your other relatives dont have anxiety feelings?

Approx 2.5 million Australians have an anxiety related issues.....Always a bonus to have you 'on the air' RX

Paul

Hey Paul no worries and thanks for that my friend.

Funny really l do know because l recognize anxiety having it myself and the funny thing is one brother in particular never bats an eyelid l know he just knows and that l know he has it too. But l rarely see him this last 10yrs . We've never told each other. The rest are pretty good so just scratch their head and wander off thinking whatever they must think.They would not believe what l see in them though, oblivious has it's benefits l suppose because with some it's lucky thy can't.

Take care mate . rx

Hiya everyone, hope you're all staying safe.

I haven't been here in a little while. Oddly enough, I had physical anxiety symptoms this week that I haven't had for a long time. I don't know if they are panic attacks or anxiety attacks.

The other day, I felt my mind was very busy and I was quite aware of how my body was feeling. I was breathing very quickly and my heart was racing/pouding. It felt as if I couldn't get enough air in my lungs no matter how I breathed. I tried doing deep breaths, didn't work. I felt very on edge. 'I can't breathe, I can't breathe' feeling. I went into the smiling mind app on my phone and found a guided 'SOS breathing exercise' for 3 minutes and the change was almost instantaneous and the feelings went away. Felt as if I could breathe again.

I think I was also having one the other night too. I was in bed and I felt like I couldn't breathe. Again, heart racing/pounding, fast breathing and felt on edge. Took my BP/heart rate - they were within normal range.

I am not sure why these are happening out of the blue. They are not short lasting, it could go on for 30+ minutes if I don't do a calming exercise.

All the best to everyone! :)

Hi Jemma09,

I'm so sorry that you are feeling that way- must be horrible.

I have experienced anxiety for the past few years now, it was at its worst near the end of high school when there wasn't an awful lot wrong with my life. These attacks that you are describing resonate greatly with this time, and so does too the frustration in not being able to explain why they were happening.

I would get into these vicious cycles of having an attack, worrying about where the attack came from, and then having another attack due to this.

Something that helped me in these times of heightened anxiety is the acceptance that they were happening for no reason at all- and that it was okay for this to occur.

I know it is hard, and accepting the fact that your just having an attack out of no where is difficult in itself, but at least the worry of where it is coming from is at least sorted.

Overall, sometimes by trying to figure out why your having an attack when the answer is not obvious is only feeding into what your anxiety wants: for you to be fearful of something.

Keep going- I think it is great that you are aware of anxieties presence in the first place, that's a huge step!

Stay well.

Hi Everyone (wave to RX and welcome Posvibe!)

Hey jemma09! I remember you when you were online..its great to see you again! You mentioned ' It felt as if I couldn't get enough air in my lungs no matter how I breathed. I tried doing deep breaths, didn't work. I felt very on edge. 'I can't breathe, I can't breathe' feeling'

I hear you loud and clear jemma09....taking deep breaths can sometimes make our anxiety worse due to excess oxygen being absorbed. Panic or anxiety attacks are the same...just different labels! They can happen 'out of the blue'.....mine were exactly the same and yes its a horrible set of feelings to have

Note....If the physical symptoms have a detrimental effect on our ability to function on a daily basis its always a good idea to see our GP as they have better training/awareness where anxiety is concerned in 2020 :-)

Hey Posvibe....thankyou for providing your valued support with these horrible feelings of anxiety!

Posvibe mentioned 'Something that helped me in these times of heightened anxiety is the acceptance that they were happening for no reason at all- and that it was okay for this to occur. Thankyou for mentioning acceptance as it does take the fear out of anxiety/panic...(with ongoing practice and seeing our doc)

my kind thoughts

Paul

Hi posvibe

Thank you for your kind words. It has been very comforting for me!

I appreciate hearing your experiences. There are some worries I am having in life at the moment. Even today I think I had a panic attack of some sort, my heart rate was high. I could feel it coming on starting with my heart rate and there were absolutely no triggers around me. This then caused me to feel upset as to why it was happening. I almost felt myself detaching a little bit at the peak of the attack. I went and did the guided breathing on the app again which helped. So yes, I agree, it comes out of nowhere and for no reason.

Again, thank you so much for reading and sharing! Take care :)

Hi Paul, yes, it is good to chat with you again!

I am glad to hear about your thoughts and experiences, thank you very much for sharing. It is nice to hear people's thoughts on this, helps me feel not alone. I will keep GP in mind. I need to find a new one actually, my current one I feel does not understand my situation. So I may look into this. I still see my therapist.

Yes, it was some very comforting support from both of you.

Thanks again, take care :)

Hi jemma09...Posvibe...RX and everyone!

no worries and thanks for the super kind post too!

I hope today has been good to you as anxiety symptoms are horrible to experience

my kind thoughts....Paul

Um hi

when I had work and got asked to stay back I thought I would be fine but after like a minute I began to shake and not breath properly and I couldn’t think starlit i was panicking and I didn’t end up staying back as i had a panic attack i know it might seem silly, and then the other day when I had work it was really bad and I had to do many things and i felt I was getting everything wrong and that people were staring at me and judging me and whispering thing that’s when I started to shake and breath less but I had to hid it and at points I felt like I was going to burst and I just wanted to cry. Even at school I find it hard to talk to people and make new friends I just get so awkward and make up things in my mind and start to sweat and get self conscious I know the only things that calm me down is being alone and listening to music or talking to friends but I don’t tell them anything because I feel like I would burden them and I don’t want to ruin the friendship but it has stopped me from ,any things and there are points at night I just lay starting at the dark roof and I get all these overwhelming thoughts and find it difficult to breath and with exams and tests I get bad and I just want it to stop I want to be normal and be able to make friends without feeling like this and do other things in life with not feeling like I’m suffocating.

i mean I’m shaking just writing this and I don’t know. I want it to stop even though I did get help in 2018 it gotten worse.

Hi everyone,

This is the first time I’ve ever logged on to one of these pages before and it’s cool to find people going through the same thing. I find that my symptoms are often hard to differentiate from just a head cold. I regularly experience, headaches and it feels as if there’s pressure between my eyebrows and forehead. I also get that typical churned stomach feeling and IBS like symptoms and my long sighted vision isn’t clear when I’m anxious. I often get hot flushes as well, which triggers a stream of thoughts that I’m unwell which causes me more anxiety.

I’m really struggling at the moment, and I wouldn’t wish these feelings on my worst enemy so I really feel for all of you.
Best wishes to all of you :)

I'm in the same boat as you my friend - I've been having regular headaches, constipation & general cold symptoms all week. I've been to the GP about 10 times this week and every time they assure me nothing's wrong, but then something else happens. Hope you can pull through with this buddy! :)

Hi,

Thought posting in these forums might help with my anxiety/depression.

My biggest symptom is jaw muscle clenching. My jaw has been aching for months now. It has gone through periods over the last 15 years where it comes and goes. I can be sitting at my desk working and notice that while my teeth aren’t touching, my jaw is super tense. When I go to bed, it feels like almost like a grape is stuck in my jaw, from the pain. No idea how to fix it. Massage, heat, ice, physio (on neck and jaw), doesn’t help when it’s this bad. Thinking I may have to get Botox injections or something...

Other symptoms include: eye lid twitches, visual migraines (where it’s like I’m looking at the world under water), skin peeling on my pinkies, ulcers in my mouth, break out in cold sweat, heart/chest shuddering...

Might be late to this thread, but normally I would feel headaches, not really painful per se, but feels like pressure and it happens rather randomly and persistently even on days where I feel "less anxious" or "fine".

When my anxiety gets bad, I get the "out of body" feeling where I feel like I am there, but I am not there at the same time. I also would have shortness of breath, slightly faster heartbeat, hot flushes and nausea. The headaches somehow tones down when my anxiety gets bad.

Went to get myself checked out, and got cleared of any heart issues, and most recently went to get a CT scan for my headaches and nothing. Still very anxious at the moment if the DR might have missed something, or the CT did not pick something hidden.

This past week different symptoms of anxiety have arisen... I'm taking these as signs that I'm healing! ie I'm not getting the full on PTSD triggering, it's calmed about 90% with a lot of help and work.

But this past week has been particularly stressful and I have had numb hands, fingers and arms.

EM

i get insomnia... sort of a resistance to sleep. Like i'll stay up just to avoid sleep as I have nightmares on days when i'm very anxious.
Also i think i get a lot of tension in my mouth and jaw, holding a lot of tension.

Hi Everyone and thankyou for your heartfelt posts too!

Hey Kookie190811....User260990.....Egbert97.....BeADodo.....artiste9909 and Sleepy21 :-)

If anyone wants to have a look at my anxiety symptoms they are posted early in this thread...

I also used to grind my teeth when I was 'sleeping' and had a sore jaw for ages....

Kudos to Annabay for starting this excellent thread topic back in 2019 :-)

be gentle to yourselves.....anxiety can be treated

Paul

I normally get intense cold sweats, stomach aches and I find it hard to think straight. The last one is especially true if I'm around a lot of people (like if I'm at school in a classroom) and peoples voices seem to kind of blur together. Listening to music definitely helps me a lot though. : )

I hope everyone is having a great day today!

When I peak with my anxiety I will feel intoxicated or "high" but will be extremely paranoid and anxious like I am having a bad trip, the whole experience feels surreal and otherworldly like my brain is trying to dissociate from the experience but is only enhancing the anxiety.